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President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday condemned the killing of prominent Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov.

Obama said in a statement that Nemtsov was brutally murdered. He called on Russia's government to "conduct a prompt, impartial and transparent investigation into the circumstances of his murder and ensure that those responsible for this vicious killing are brought to justice."

Nemtsov is a former deputy prime minister who later became a prominent opposition leader and a sharp critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The 55-year-old was shot and killed early Saturday in Moscow just outside of the Kremlin.

Obama called Nemtsov a "tireless advocate" for Russia and for the rights of Russian citizens, and praised Nemtsov for fighting corruption. Obama and Nemtsov met in Moscow in 2009.

In a separate statement, Kerry said Nemtsov "sought to reform and open Russia, and to empower the Russian people to have a greater say in the life of their country. His absence will be deeply felt in Russia and around the world."

The killing comes as the U.S. and Russia are at odds over Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine.

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Obama Condemns 'Brutal Murder' of Russian Opposition Figure

Rappler Feb 10: Mamasapano probe, MILF to return weapons, Obama delays Ukraine arms
Rappler RAPPLER - NEWS POLITICS Feb 10: Mamasapano probe, MILF to return weapons, Obama delays Ukraine arms | The wRap Senator Alan Cayetano links the MILF to terrorist groups and ...

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Rappler Feb 10: Mamasapano probe, MILF to return weapons, Obama delays Ukraine arms - Video

Barack Obama #39;s Inexplicable Actions Terrorist Released Charles Krauthammer O #39;Reilly

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Barack Obama's Inexplicable Actions Terrorist Released Charles Krauthammer O'Reilly - Video

His comments to Kansas City-based KMBC during a series of interviews Thursday afternoon with local television stations, the same day that Washington implemented a new law decriminalizing the use of small amounts of marijuana over the objections of some congressional Republicans.

READ: D.C. legalizes pot, ignoring House Republicans

"I think that we have to separate out legalization -- there's a lot of concern about drug abuse of any sort by our children and the general population -- versus the heavy criminalization of non-violent drug offenses," Obama said. "And I think that a lot of states are taking a look to see, do we have proportionality in terms of how we are penalizing the recreational user."

He said the United States has managed to discourage the use of other harmful products like tobacco without stiff jail sentences.

"I think that's what every state across the country, including some very conservative states that don't have a lot of tolerance for marijuana, are looking at," Obama said, "is do we want to be throwing people in jail for five, 10, 15 years if they're not major drug dealers but they're using a substance that's probably not good for them but is probably not hurting too many other people?"

Obama also repeated his previous stances on the Keystone XL pipeline, which he recently vetoed after Republicans sought to authorize it before the State Department completes a six-year-old review, and international trade.

He touted his administration's push for a 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership as a way to correct the labor and environmental lapses of past pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement. And he said the new deal is an opportunity to keep China from setting international rules with other Pacific Rim countries.

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Obama backs pot decriminalization efforts

Published February 26, 2015

Feb. 26, 2015: U.S. President Barack Obama participates in the taping of an town hall discussion on immigration with host Jose Diaz-Balart at Florida International University in Miami. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

President Obama said illegal immigrants who would be eligible for protection from deportation under his recent, disputed executive orders should plan for them to be upheld in court.

"People should be gathering up their papers, make sure you can show you are a long standing resident of the United States," Obama said Wednesday evening at a town hall meeting hosted by the Spanish-language TV network Telemundo. He said immigrants should make sure that by the time the legal issues are sorted out, "you are ready to go."

A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked Obama's executive action earlier this month at the request of a coalition of 26 states who claim in a lawsuit that the president overstepped his legal authority.

On Wednesday, Obama said he expected to win when a U.S. circuit court hears his appeal, but added that his administration will "take it up from there" if the appeal fails, in an apparent reference to the Supreme Court. He said at each stage of the process, the White House believes it has the better argument.

"This is just one federal judge," Obama said of U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who put Obama's order on hold. "We have appealed it very aggressively. We're going to be as aggressive as we can."

Dismissing those hoping for a presidential about-face, Obama insisted he was "absolutely committed" to the new policy, which he described as focusing deportation efforts on felons.

"We are reorganizing how we work with state and local governments to make sure that we are not prioritizing families [for deportation]," Obama said. "And you are gonna see, I think, a substantial change even as the case works its way through the courts."

As Obama spoke in Miami, another immigration drama was playing out in Congress, where lawmakers were attempting to fund Homeland Security over the insistence by some Republicans that Obama's immigration actions be repealed at the same time. Obama derided Republicans for holding national security funding hostage and said he would veto a stand-alone measure to repeal his actions being contemplated in the Senate.

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Obama says illegal immigrants should prepare for court to uphold executive action